Our parish priest is Fr. David Wyatt
Fr. David came to Hay in August of 2023, initially to assist Fr. Richard Williams, Parish Priest, and from April 2024 to take over as Vicar of Hay, St. Eigon’s, Llanigon, Little St. Mary’s, Capel-y-Ffin and a little later, also St. Michael & All Angel’s and Bettws Chapel, Clyro.
Fr. David read Theology as an undergraduate at Heythrop College, a constituent college of the University of London. Following his studies he had a variety of jobs, including working for charities of the Church and an NHS trust.
The call of God could not be quietened so, after a process of discernment, he was approved for training by the Church of England and trained at Cuddesdon. The college, located at the edge of Oxford, was set-up by Bishop Samuel Wilberforce in 1853 to train graduates for the Priesthood. Fr. David greatly valued the formation which came from the discipline of the daily offices and Mass.
Fr. David served as Curate in the parishes of Birley, Canon Pyon, King’s Pyon and Wellington in the Diocese of Hereford before coming to Hay.
He has a deep devotion to Our Lady, is a Priest Associate of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, and feels deeply blessed to be Parish Priest to the only Parish in which apparitions of Our Lady have been recorded since the Reformation.
Look out for Fr. David walking his two beagles or, most likely, refreshing himself in the cafes and pubs in Hay.
Fr. Peter Walter is our Assistant Priest
Fr. Peter is a retired priest who works as an Assistant Priest in the Parishes.
Like his brother, he was a chorister at St. Philip’s Cathedral, Birmingham for 8 years and has always had an affinity for Church since childhood. Peter initially studied Mechanical Engineering at what is now Birmingham City University and later Gas Engineering, becoming a “Chartered Engineer” and a Member of the Institution of Gas Engineers.
In spite of a successful career with the British Gas Corporation, the persistent call of God could not be resisted and in 1980 he studied for the Priesthood at Chichester Theological College, was ordained Deacon in 1982 and Priest in 1983. He worked throughout his Priesthood in Hereford Diocese.
Fr. Peter is married to Eunice and, with their daughter Sarah and her husband Matthew, they moved as a family to Hay in 2014 where they have settled in as part of the furniture! He is firmly in the Anglo-Catholic tradition and is also a Priest Associate of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham.
He can be seen about town and in Church, accompanied by the two devout Border Terriers, Bertie and Oliver.
Barrie Magill is our organist and choirmaster
Barrie’s inspiration to take up the organ came from listening as a schoolboy to the weekly recitals by George Thalben-Ball in Birmingham Town Hall. He attended Swansea University and left with a hard-won degree in chemistry and the harder-won honour of winning the University of Wales Inter-College Eisteddfod organ competition for three years running. He went on to work as a chemical engineer for the day job and organist / choirmaster the rest of the time embracing Catholic and Anglican traditions. He spent the first 25 years of his working life as organist and later conductor of the Latin Choir at OLEM (Our Lady and the English Martyrs) church in Cambridge which is one of the few places left regularly using the Latin liturgy. There he developed skills in arranging and composition which have served him well since.
The day job took him on many long term overseas contracts where he would keep his musical hand in with such posts as assistant organist at Vaksala Kyrka, Uppsala, Sweden; Union Church of San Juan, Puerto Rico; St Mary’s, Howth, Dublin and conductor of St David’s Welsh town choir, Singapore.
He retired from the day job in 2016 and moved with his wife Tanya to Hereford. There he joined the Hereford Organists’ Society and on one of their organised trips had a play on the Bevington organ at St Mary’s and was much impressed. Shortly afterwards the post there came vacant and with St Mary’s standing firmly in the Catholic tradition of the Anglican Church it was a match made, you might say, in heaven. He offered his services and the rest is history.
